Introduction
The move from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) not only signals a change in the narrative of Vietnam regarding socio-economic development but is also a testimony to the shift in the global dynamic. The strong support and commitment in the country, in addition to the huge transformations that the country has made, resulted in a strong progress base, especially in poverty, education, and healthcare that was built for SDGs. The 2030 SDGs agenda that aims to “leave no one behind” in economic, social, and environmental sustainability is proportional to the development agenda of Vietnam in tackling residual challenges and new dimensions of development. It would be a major shift to reflect Vietnam’s commitment to inclusive growth, environmental preservation, and social justice. Indeed, by integrating the SDGs into its national strategies and policies, Vietnam is not only fulfilling its contribution to the pursuit of global efforts for a sustainable future but also is molding the well-being and prosperity of its citizens, which would underpin the role of an active participant of the global community.
Background Information
Vietnam is a country located in Southeast Asia along the eastern part of the Indochinese Peninsula. It has a long historical background of interactions with China from which it got most of its culture and political institutions. From a population of 66.91 million in 1990, Vietnam is estimated to have grown consistently over the years to 97.47 million in the year 2021, with the growth rate slowing down significantly over the last years, thus indicating a move to a more stable demographic profile (Worldbank, 2022). Also, this period witnessed a remarkable decline in poverty, with the national headcount poverty ratio of the national poverty lines reducing to 4.8% and that of living on $2.15 a day (2017 PPP) from 45.1% to merely 0.7%, reflecting on Vietnam’s focused efforts in the improvement of living standard and poverty alleviation. Economically, Vietnam stood out strong in the growth of Gross National Income (GNI) from $8.53 billion in 1990 to a considerable value of $350.21 billion by 2021. The GNI per capita shot in a similar direction, from $130 to $3,590, indicating considerable personal prosperity. The growing economy is further evident from the improving GDP, which changed from $6.47 billion to $366.14 billion, as well as the increasing diversification within the economy from largely agriculture to a more balanced mix with huge shares from both industry and service activities (Worldbank, 2022).
According to the World Bank (2022), the life expectancy at birth improved from 69 years in 1990 to 74 years by 2021 while the fertility rate also decreased, stabilizing at 1.9 births per woman. There were significant advances in health care with near-universal coverage of births by skilled health staff and a steep reduction in under-5 mortality. Education saw remarkable progress as well with the rates of enrolment for primary school over 100%, which would mean not only its universal access but also in some cases years repeated. The environmental and technological landscapes in Vietnam have evolved. A forest area increased, reflecting progress in environmental conservation. Although the rate of growth in urban populations is falling, the trend still indicates that urbanization is taking place, a situation that is accompanied by increased energy consumption and CO2 emissions, reflecting the challenges to sustainable development in the industrialized world. Meanwhile, mobile cellular subscriptions and use of the internet hit 138.9 per 100 people and 74.2% of the population by 2021, hence marking the leap of the country towards digitalization. World Bank (2022) states that, at the international level, the evidence for the integration of Vietnam with the world economy is in the rise in merchandise trade as a percentage of GDP providing evidence of an economy depending more and more on global trade. Foreign direct investment inflows, therefore, grew sharply, providing a clear indication of Vietnam as an attractive destination for foreign capital.
Progress Made Towards The MDGs As Of 2015
Between 2001 and 2015, Vietnam has gone on an illustrative journey towards the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), elaborating an appreciable period of socio-economic development through three Five-Year Socio-economic Development Plans. It has been an economic recovery on the fast lane, backed by policy reforms that encouraged international integration and more focused efforts on poverty reduction, education, healthcare, and environmental sustainability. This was made possible by the course of the country’s progress in eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, commendably being achieved way ahead of the timeline of the MD The success was driven by strong economic growth, liberalization of trade, as well as targeted policies on poverty reduction, and by the year 2008, the poverty rate based on expenditure had dropped from 58.1 percent in 1993 to 14.5 percent (UNDP, 2015). Efforts during this period, 2011-2015, had further continued efforts to reduce poverty and dramatically dropped the hunger rate, thus effectively eradicating chronic hunger in most of the provinces. Education-wise, the country achieved universal primary education, with a net enrollment rate of 99% as of 2014, and moved towards achieving universal lower secondary education (UNDP, 2015). This was through the commitment of the government to reforms within the educational system to increase the quality of education and also the learning environment.
Gender equality and women’s empowerment marked quite a progress, seeing Vietnam reach par levels of literacy and education between genders in 2014 (VTV, 2015). Women’s participation in non-farm activities increased, especially in the rural areas, yet employment and representation in governance posed challenges. Vietnam’s achievements in health were notable, particularly in reducing child mortality and improving maternal health. The mortality of children under the age of five was halved between 1990 and 2004, and the maternal mortality ratio nearly reached MDG target levels by 2015. In terms of the disease burden, Tanzania also showed impressive strides in the fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, thus reaching and exceeding these targets. Environmental sustainability became integrated into national policies, regarding efforts to increase forest coverage and enhance access to clean water, and sanitation among others (UN, 2015). However, in this respect, there existed significant challenges of biodiversity loss, pollution, and protection of sustainability concerning economic growth. With global interactions, Vietnam developed partnerships for development, liberalized the regime in trade, and signed into the major Free Trade Agreements, propelling deeper integration into the world economy. Despite the promotion of import-export activities, trade liberalization introduced other challenges which included trade deficits and a situation where there was the need for protection of the domestic industries.
Current Progress and Challenges Towards The SDGs
Navigating difficult terrains shaped by the prolonged impacts of COVID-19, rising prices in food and fuel, growing financial instability from without, and the intense effects of natural disasters and climate change, Vietnam has moved from the first Voluntary National Review (VNR) in 2018 towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite those adversities, Vietnam had never been swayed by its commitment to the 2030 Agenda and instituting it within the National Action Plan, integrating all 17 SDGs into strategies, plans, and policies of socio-economic development, from national to local levels. The whole-of-society approach reflects Vietnam’s commitment to leaving no one behind in its way towards the SDGs. Vietnam has done remarkably well with various SDGs like SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). For example, the multidimensional poverty rate dropped from 9.2% in 2016 to 4.3% in 2022, reflecting a very significant difference in terms of strong measures to fight poverty. The country also improved the access rate of the country’s households to improved water sources, which reached 98.3% in 2022, and enhanced infrastructure investment, industrialization, and environment for innovation (UN, 2024). Therefore, efforts were made to increase job creation and expand social protection, along with specific measures for vulnerable groups, to mitigate such inequalities (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Poverty Reduction in Vietnam (source: https://borgenproject.org/poverty-reduction-in-vietnam/)
Satisfaction with the public service and the enhancement of Vietnam as a proactive and responsible member of the international community moved forward, and firm progress was made in the implementation of SDG 17. To build on these achievements and sustain those already made, it is key for Vietnam to continue giving priority to these SDGs. However, challenges remain, necessitating accelerated efforts across other SDGs. According to the UN (2024), the priorities are stated at the following: to end malnutrition among the children of ethnic minorities (SDG 2), to promote expanded health care coverage (SDG 3), to ensure that all would-be children are enabled to be awarded quality education without discriminations (SDG 4), to fight for gender equality (SDG 5), to expand the use of power from renewable sources (SDG 7), and to ensure inclusive economic There is also a need to increasingly address the environmental concerns in urban and rural areas, sustainable consumption and production, disaster risk management, climate change mitigation, and biodiversity preservation, as well as improvement in the services of the ecosystems.
Vietnam has set itself on this strategy for navigating the path toward the 2030 Agenda, with priorities for investment in human capital, science, technology, and innovation. Crucial are the upgrading of infrastructure to boost productivity, development in a green and circular economy, and building resilience against natural disasters and climate change. Another pillar to focus on is enhancing the market institutions, with a socialism-oriented approach, advancing public administration reform, and fostering participation of vulnerable groups in the decision-making processes. Besides, Vietnam was to further reform its social protection system, stabilize the macroeconomic fundamentals, continue the recovery from COVID-19, and ensure efficient use of the financial resources for sustainable development (UN, 2024). This would enable better availability of data for their monitoring and engaging all stakeholders together in the collaborative efforts, more so on the part of the vulnerable groups. Such an inclusive, multi-faceted approach would be symbolic of Vietnam’s commitment to sustainable development, comprehensive in character and strategic in nature, despite challenges that can be enormous. Therefore, by addressing the current barriers and capitalizing on the successes, Vietnam will be able to keep the wheels moving as the country progresses toward a future that can indeed be sustainable and inclusive for all its citizens.
Specific Details on SDG 1 (No Poverty)
SDG 1 is all about eradicating extreme poverty for all people everywhere by 2030. Extreme poverty, according to the global poverty reduction efforts, has been to live with less than 2.15 US dollars on 2017 purchasing power parity. However, the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic turned out to be a major setback for the first time, reversing the gains and increasing the number of people living in extreme poverty by about 90 million, according to projections. This unexpected increase signals a generational first increase which essentially undid some three years’ worth of poverty reduction measures. More than 4 billion people in the world still live without any form of social protection coverage even though the extension of social protection coverage during the COVID-19 crisis remains the ideal tool to tackle poverty and inequality. That is a stark reality that points to a very big gap in the safety nets that should be there for the most vulnerable of populations, like the young and old. Expenditure by governments in such key service areas as education, health, and social protection is so hugely weighted towards the advanced economies compared to the emerging and developing economies that it is adding to the inequalities.
That is compounded by the recent resurgence in hunger levels to those last seen in 2005, coupled with the persistent increase in food prices across many countries. These factors further exacerbate the hardship of the world’s poorest and can support the starkness of the goal to end extreme poverty by 2030. The revised global poverty headcount ratio slightly up by 0.1 percentage points to 8.5 percent reiterates the uphill battle in poverty eradication, with an estimated 659 million people in extreme poverty (UN, 2024). The present course is expected to ensure that in 2030 only a third of the countries will have halved their national poverty levels, thus leaving a lot of the global population in a lurch, more so in sub-Saharan Africa.
Progress and Challenges in Achieving SDG 1
Vietnam’s trek towards Sustainable Development Goal 1 (No Poverty) is an epic tale of commitment, implementation through strategic policies, and inclusive growth. Over the last few decades, through rapid and sustained economic growth, Vietnam has shifted from being among the poorest countries to a lower-middle-income country. According to UNICEF (2022), the transformation has been mainly spearheaded by comprehensive poverty reduction strategies, which have greatly reduced poverty incidences over time across the country. Indeed, the government has institutionalized its commitment towards the 2030 Agenda, through mainstreaming of the SDGs into its national development plans and policies. In a more concrete sense, under SDG1, Vietnam took a view towards multidimensional poverty reduction whereby it considers the poor to be poor not only because of low income but also as a result of a lack of access to health care, education, clean water, and sanitation. The multidimensional approach has been more effective about not only targeting interventions but also tackling different aspects of poverty.
Notably, the level of multidimensional poverty was reduced to a large extent in Vietnam. The poverty rate under the measures of multidimensional poverty of the nation decreased from 9.2% in 2016 to 4.3% in 2022, which shows the effectiveness of strategies adopted by Vietnam toward eradicating poverty (UN, 2024).
Figure 2: Slum Houses in Vietnam (source: https://soapboxie.com/social-issues/How-to-end-poverty-in-Vietnam)
This achievement results from economic reforms, social protection policies, and targeted poverty reduction programs oriented to the most vulnerable populations comprised of ethnic minorities and residents in remote areas. The government in Vietnam has also recognized the national appropriateness of the social protection floors for poor and vulnerable groups (see Figure 2). These have been through social insurance, social assistance programs, and access to essential services, and thus instrumental in saving the poor from shocks and in helping them to be released from poverty.
Even with such excellent achievements, Vietnam is confronted with various challenges in realizing the entire attainment of SDG 1 by the year 2030. The challenges are multi-dimensional, formed by the economic, social, environmental, and institutional dimensions. Some of the key challenges in this regard would be that of leaving behind the vulnerable. Although the country has made much progress in decreasing its national poverty rate, great disparities continue to persist on regional and ethnic-minority lines. Baum (2020) further notes that ethnic minorities represent the majority population in Vietnam and that their majority live in remote areas and mountains, rendering accessibility to basic services, education, and formal-sector job opportunities quite low. These include groups such as women and ethnic minorities, which are more at risk of remaining in or falling back into poverty due to systemic inequalities and marginalization. One of the strongest challenges to poverty eradication in Vietnam is the impact of climate change and natural disasters. Vietnam is a country vulnerable to the climate, and thus it is always prone to frequent and severe weather events such as typhoons, floods, and drought. Dang et al. (2017) assert that these events mainly affect the poor and those who live in rural areas, who are mostly challenged by such threats to their livelihoods, homes, and access to clean water and food. However, the enormity of the threat and the resources needed for building resilience and adaptive capacity among these communities make it an extremely daunting task.
Economic transformation and the re-orientation of development towards a more industrial and service-oriented economy throw open possibilities as well as challenges. On one hand, such transformation has contributed to massive economic growth in Vietnam in a very short time frame. On the other, the transformation has contributed to job displacements and a corresponding high demand for skilled employees. The danger for the latter, especially for low-skilled workers and those working in traditional agricultural sectors, presents in terms of not being able to adapt may be increased income disparity with accentuated rural-urban disparities. The COVID-19 pandemic further complicates the realization of SDG1 in Vietnam, disclosing the vulnerabilities of the social protection system (Nguyen et al., 2021). The pandemic’s economic fallout has meant job losses and reduced incomes, pushing more into poverty or precarity. Although the government did a few things to cushion these effects, what the pandemic brought out is the fact that there is no broad-based and strong enough social safety net to respond to such shocks.
Vietnam’s Approach to Meeting Challenges
The approach that the country is following includes strategic and comprehensive planning, policy integration, and community engagement to meet the multidimensional challenges under Sustainable Development Goal 1 (SDG 1) – No Poverty. Economically, Vietnam remains in a direction toward an inclusive growth model inclusive of sustainability. This policy orientation emanates from the belief that those sectors are the drivers of economic growth which should trickle down and benefit the vulnerable groups at the front line (Helfaya & Bui, 2022). It will mean access to credit, technology, and markets that are available to farmers and SMEs to create jobs, raise incomes, and lowering poverty. In addition, the nation is developing its human capital through education and vocational training initiatives that are tailor-made or custom-fit to cater to the needs of the dynamic or constantly changing labor market.
The objective has been to try to ensure that all sectors of society, especially those that have not been very privileged, might share in the fruits of growth. The social objective has been the expansion and strengthening of the country’s social protection systems. The government will be moving to shore up a more comprehensive social safety net that should include health insurance, social security, and targeted assistance programs for the poor and vulnerable, realizing gaps exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Such programs aim to shield the poor against the vagaries of economic shocks, health crises, and the impacts of climate change (Quynh and Hương, 2023). This indicates the resolve that the government has and is involved in, to enable all people, the poor people included, to get access to quality health and education services that they require to break the poverty cycle.
Vietnam has mainstreamed adaptation and mitigation in its national development planning. Adaptation to make the vulnerable population resilient in case of climate impact is through massive investment in climate-smart agriculture, reforestation, and disaster risk reduction infrastructure. This, in turn, helps save livelihoods and poverty through environmental degradation and sustainability in resource use. Governance and institutional reform are also at the heart of Vietnam’s strategy. The Vietnamese government has undertaken certain measures in the past few years to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of public services through transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement (Son, 2021). This means further decentralization of decision-making to ensure that poverty eradication efforts are more closely aligned with the poverty-related needs and conditions at the local level. In addition, the government facilitates partnerships with international organizations, NGOs, and the private sector to multiply its knowledge, resources, and innovative approaches to bringing about poverty eradication. The key pillar of the Vietnam strategy is founded on community involvement and empowerment. This helps in getting the community involved in planning and implementing the poverty reduction programs. This participatory approach ensures policies and programs respond to the actual needs of those people they are meant to benefit. It also supports local capacity and ownership to develop, both key factors for the sustainability of development efforts.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Vietnam’s journey to sustainable development, especially in terms of poverty reduction is outstanding. The country still faces continued challenges despite the remarkable progress it has made, including disparities among regions and ethnic minorities, combating the impacts of climate change, transitioning towards a more industrialized economy, and recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. These call for multi-pronged and holistic strategies focusing on economic inclusivity, social protection, environmental sustainability, and reform of governance. The strategies by Vietnam in human capital development, reform of the social protection system, building climate resilience, and ensuring participatory governance outline a robust framework to overcome the same. The country’s experience offers a useful lesson on the complexities of the realization of sustainable development goals, more especially SDG 1. It is an example that nourishes inclusive growth and weaves sustainable development with the larger pattern of the new international agenda. As Vietnam sets off on this path to all-inclusive growth, it is imperative that nurturing communities and development go hand in hand as prerequisites to a poverty-free future for all its citizens. The road ahead may be challenging, yet based on the strategic approaches and experiences gained, Vietnam is provided with a strong basis for the way forward in the direction of a sustainable and inclusive future.
References
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